This invention relates generally to convertible vehicles and, more particularly, to a substitute top for covering the vehicle passenger compartment when the folding soft top is stored.
Convertible vehicles are becoming more popular with the motoring public. These vehicles have the advantage of being able to quickly and easily convert from a closed sedan mode to an open roadster mode by folding and storing a collapsible soft top. In the event of inclement weather, such as rain or cold temperatures, the top can be easily and quickly unfolded and raised to close the passenger compartment and become a barrier against the weather.
While the unfolded, raised soft top is effective to protect the passengers from inclement weather, the top fabric does not weather well. Harsh winter weather, including exposure to snow and ice and to freezing and thawing, is especially wearing on the exposed convertible top fabric cover. Also, the top fabric is stretched when the top is raised and cold temperatures tends to stiffen and shrink the fabric. This results in increased stress and wear to the fabric, causing aesthetic degradation and deterioration in its ability to serve as a weather barrier. Prudent maintenance necessitates top replacement after several years use.
One way to improve top life is to store the vehicle during winter weather and treat the convertible vehicle as a fair weather vehicle only. However, this severely limits the utility of the convertible. With the burgeoning popularity of convertibles, manufacturers are producing an ever-increasing number of inexpensive convertibles. These are usually purchased by young motorists who utilize their convertible as their only vehicle. Thus, winter storage is impractical, since the vehicle must be driven year-round. It is necessary to improve weather resistance for the convertible top to increase utility and salability of convertibles.
One solution developed by manufacturers was a folding hardtop. One of these comprises a hardtop covering for the passenger compartment which has several rigid sections that fold. Because these segments are not flexible, they normally require the entire trunk for storage. The only recent commercial embodiment was produced by Ford Motor Company in the 1950's. It proved commercially unsuccessful and was dropped.
Another solution was to provide an overtop. In this type vehicle, a hard shell is installed over the raised soft top, using the soft top as a base. This arrangement improves weatherability of the vehicle, but produces a bulky appearance and does not eliminate cold weather shrinkage and stressing of the top fabric.
To improve the life of the fabric soft top and to provide a better weather barrier, substitute tops have been developed to close the passenger compartment without raising the soft top. These substitute tops are often referred to as hardtops, since they utilize a shell made of steel, fiberglass or aluminum which are harder than the soft fabric tops. These tops, however, have required special latches and fittings, resulting in a complicated procedure for installing and removing them.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a substitute top for a convertible vehicle which is simple and easy to install and remove and which utilizes the same latch mechanism utilized by the soft top only.